I have a TWH who is very wide in the withers. He is also plump. I am thinking of a wintec wide saddle. I prefer english and he can do both english and western. Can I have some opinions or suggestions?

unclearthur

03-29-2012 02:55 PM

The trees are quite flat, so you wouldn't want to put one on a horse with a hollow back profile. Just a thought because some wide horses do have this shape.
Plus the gullets supplied (which I presume are the same as over here) start at XXW - is yours really that wide?

The trees are quite flat, so you wouldn't want to put one on a horse with a hollow back profile. Just a thought because some wide horses do have this shape.
Plus the gullets supplied (which I presume are the same as over here) start at XXW - is yours really that wide?

You can buy narrower gullets to fit - or you used to be able to. We used one on a haflinger at our hard, was brilliant... but like you say, had a very flat back and low withers. As an alternative, there is a thorowgood cob type saddle with the same idea, the wide fit, but isn't quite as wide as the wintec...

unclearthur

03-29-2012 03:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by minstrel
(Post 1429960)

You can buy narrower gullets to fit - or you used to be able to. We used one on a haflinger at our hard, was brilliant... but like you say, had a very flat back and low withers. As an alternative, there is a thorowgood cob type saddle with the same idea, the wide fit, but isn't quite as wide as the wintec...

I'm sure the standard Wintec gullets (narrow to extra-wide) use the same fittings, but I'm not sure whether the tree design will allow the arch to be pulled in any narrower than the gullets supplied.

Anyone tried it?

The current Thorowgood T4 3D Cob saddle only has gullets to XXW, but the tree and panel shapes suit a wider variety of back profiles, IMHO. Oh, and they're a lot easier to flock.

minstrel

03-29-2012 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unclearthur
(Post 1429970)

I'm sure the standard Wintec gullets (narrow to extra-wide) use the same fittings, but I'm not sure whether the tree design will allow the arch to be pulled in any narrower than the gullets supplied.

Anyone tried it?

The current Thorowgood T4 3D Cob saddle only has gullets to XXW, but the tree and panel shapes suit a wider variety of back profiles, IMHO. Oh, and they're a lot easier to flock.

You put it so much more professionally than I do... lol.

Like I say, we had one for a haflinger a few years ago (being honest, probably closer to 8 or 9 years ago!), and it was an extra-wide gullet we used, not one of the XXW ones... but that's not to say the most recent saddles would do that... the styles change too quickly for me.

unclearthur

03-29-2012 04:08 PM

Minstrel - you're quite right about about designs changing. I've seen the newer Wintec GPs, which I think they re-designed last year (the tree's not quite so deep and the panel is a MUCH better shape) but not a new Wintec Wide, if there is such an animal.

And thanks for the compliment! I cheated, really - I've been fitting saddles for twelve years now so I have an unfair advantage!

That explains it! It's a great skill to have, saddles really do make all the difference... I can cope with fitting something out of my collection of wintecs/thorowgoods and various gullets to the youngsters I break, and adjusting that over time, but I always get a saddler out for anything later down the line... it's something I would love to learn more about!

And yeah, I was sure adverts for new style wintecs had been mindlessly absorbed from tack catalogues recently... Glad they've sorted the GP, can imagine it makes a massive difference. The one thing I really wish wintec would do that thorowgood do is use leather for the girth straps - the synthetic wintec ones drive me insane.

Tack Collector

04-14-2012 02:54 PM

Quote:

I'm sure the standard Wintec gullets (narrow to extra-wide) use the same fittings, but I'm not sure whether the tree design will allow the arch to be pulled in any narrower than the gullets supplied.

Anyone tried it?

Late, but someone on this board put a purple gullet from the Wintec Wide into a standard Wintec 500 AP and a Wintec Pro Dressage, previous generation. I'm not sure about the current generation.Deer Run Stables-Wintec Wide Dressage

It's pretty well known that you can put the red and white of the regular Wintecs in the Wintec Wide saddles.

Watch what you do if warranties are important to you, though.

unclearthur

04-14-2012 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tack Collector
(Post 1454853)

Late, but someone on this board put a purple gullet from the Wintec Wide into a standard Wintec 500 AP and a Wintec Pro Dressage, previous generation. I'm not sure about the current generation.Deer Run Stables-Wintec Wide Dressage

It's pretty well known that you can put the red and white of the regular Wintecs in the Wintec Wide saddles.

Watch what you do if warranties are important to you, though.

Hi Tackcollector - thanks for posting.

So it looks like the really wide gullets can be made to fit, but you need a level or uphill horse to get most benefit, and a lot of flat-withered horses are high-crouped.